Original Costumes

Given the endless choices available in this age of instant online shopping, choosing a Halloween costume has simultaneously become easier and more difficult. While the Internet does make it a breeze to browse for and order the perfect alter ego, you can also end up spending untold hours surfing retail sites unless you already know exactly what you’re looking for.

Thus, the key to easy shopping for an original Halloween costume is to have a great costume idea ready before you start to shop. You’ll save both time and money – because your shopping experience will be more efficient, you can reinvest those saved minutes into finding the lowest possible price on the costumes and accessories you need.

So the question now is this: how do you come up with the perfect costume idea?

Unique Halloween Costumes for Kids

With kids, you’re usually safe if you go one of two ways: trendy or classic. Every year, there’s a new masked hero or heroine, TV character, singer, actor or celebrity that hits it big with kids, and chances are your kids aren’t out of touch with the latest trends even if you are. Get some feedback from your kids and see if they have their heart set on dressing up as their favorite fictional friend.

Otherwise, most kids want to stick to the classics, the original costumes like clowns, ghosts, wizards, pirates and vampires and other popular standbys. Even so, there’s plenty of wiggle room to make kids’ costumes really stand out. Store-bought costumes, while complete and convenient, tend to be generic. The solution: supplement with costume accessories. Sometimes the smallest touches can make the biggest difference.

Rock Your Halloween Party

If you’re heading to a Halloween party and you want to stand out without dropping hundreds of dollars on a costume you’re only going to wear once, the experts suggest opening your closet and having a look around at the clothes you don’t wear anymore. You can transform these into an original Halloween costume with a little creativity: for example, make those oversized shorts the centerpiece of an American tourist costume. Just add some socks pulled up to your knees, tuck in a loud golf shirt, add a mesh-back ball cap and a pair of binoculars, and you’ve got a ready-made, fun and funny costume that will stand out.

If you want to go to a little more effort while staying on the cheap, here are a few ideas to get the ball rolling:

Web Surfer – Dress up in a wetsuit, carry a Styrofoam surfboard and cover yourself in cobwebs.

“Miss Matched” – Split yourself down the middle, styling your hair differently on both sides, wearing different makeup on both sides of your face, different shoes, different gloves and nail polish of different colors. Then, top it off with a beauty queen sash declaring yourself to be “Miss Matched.”

Death on Vacation – Dress up as the Grim Reaper, but add a flower necklace, some sunglasses, tanning lotion and maps or guide books. Hey, even Death himself needs a break from the daily grind.

Kissing Booth – This costume is both fun and sexy. Around your torso, wear a box, but leave the rest of your body scantily clad. Write “Kisses – $1.00” on the box and carry around some lipstick. Actually charging for the kisses you’ll give is optional.

Killing Time – Carry a large plastic butcher knife and douse yourself in tattered clothing and fake blood. Attach a clock to the front of your outfit and presto, you’re Killing Time.

These ideas are just the tip of the iceberg. You’re limited only by your own creativity when it comes to finding the perfect one-of-a-kind, original costume. So get shopping early and don’t be afraid to take a chance!